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The Bard's Tale was released by Ariolasoft in Christmas 1986. CU called it "a classic fantasy role-playing game with all the magic, mystery, combat and cunning a mere mortal can devise".

It may have been true in 1986. But Electronic Arts have been busy. The Destiny Knight is 50 per cent bigger, with more monsters, more spells, more cities and dungeons, more of everything in face, and a few new things as well. But although it's bigger tha better than its predecessor, The Destiny Knight has almost exactly the same format, so Bard's Tale experts will be able to get stuck in right away.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Bard's Tale, let me fill you in on the story. The realm is under constant invasion from lawless bands of mercenaries from the neighbouring kingdom of Lestrade. The reason behind the breakdown in law and order is that Evil Archmage, Lagoth Zanta, has snapped up the Destiny wand and hidden its seven pieces.

Your band of inexperienced, but enthusiastic combatants must search the kingdom high and low to discover and reunit the seven pieces of wand. The game begins in The Adventurer's Guild - a coffee bar/sanctuary where adventures can put their feet up without fear of attack. The first thing you must do is assemble a party. The easy option is to use the pre-built party on the character disc supplied. Really adventurous types can make up their own band of merry men.

The characters are as mixed a bunch as you could hope for: humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, hobbits and orcs, with a few half-breeds thrown in for good measure. It's a good idea to pick 'n mix, because different races have different characteristics. Gnomes are good at magic, Elves are nimble, humans are pig-headed. Similarly each member of your party will have a profession. Warriors, paladins and rogues make up your fighting force, monks, conjurers and magicians handle the sorcery. It's also a good idea to take along a Bard, whose songs will strengthen morale in battle and have other magical properties.

Character attributes are displayed at the bottom of the screen: strength, intelligence, constitution, luck and spell levels. Further info, experience, gold and level can be called up on invividual character's screens. All of this text data is accompanied by vivid animated graphics depicting each character in portrait form.

Now it's time to take to the streets of Tangramayne - the capital city. The impressive 3D scrolling screen gives you a forward view down the road with buildings on either side. A quick left or right turn will take you to the door. Travelling around and all other actions are carried out via the keyboard. There are various places worth visiting before making an assault on the dungeon, where you will be asked to rescue a princess. A visit to Garth's Equipment Shoppe will get your team well kitted out. The tavern is a good place for information as well as a drink. Roscoe's Energy Emporium provides energy point pick-me-ups and the casino is a good place to lose all your gold.

Of course, before you enter any of these establishments you will need some spends. You can pick up some gold on the way by engaging some no-goods in battle. The protocol here is that once the aggressor's intentions are obvious, you have the option to stand and fight or, if you're lucky, run away.

Should you decide to stand your ground, decisions must be made as to what each member of the party is going to do. This is where any extra weapons you may have found might come in handy. You can get your conjurers, monks, etc, to throw a few spells around. Arc Fire is lethal stuff in the hands of a conjurer. Some of the more subtle stuff includes Vorpal Plating, which causes someone's weapon to take on extra power (ooer!), and the Quick Fix, which restores people to full energy from the brink of death.

As you progress through the game, your players will gain combat experience, much more powerful magic, and of course, lots of gold. There are six cities to visit in all, and plenty of wilderness in between where you can get lost.

The Destiny Knight will keep you occupied for the next eighteen months. Who knows what Electronic Arts will have come up with by then...!